Seeking Bliss on a Bun

http://www.bltsteak.com

Score: 4

It takes discipline to order a burger at BLT as everyone around you carves into their prime sirloin. But you won't be sorry once it arrives. The eight-ounce burger gets just as much attention as the higher-priced items. The meat is perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled until it's just rosy at the center; the old-school sesame bun -- toasted and buttered for a little modern flair -- stood up well to the juicy beef and equally juicy tomato. This burger could happily stand alone, but the elegant cone of crisp, thin-cut fries dusted with parsley and the small tub of creamy coleslaw are welcome accompaniments.

Charlie Palmer Steak

$13 (plus $5 for fries)

Lunch only; dinner upon request

101 Constitution Ave. NW

202-547-8100

http://www.charliepalmer.com

Score: 4

It's risky to be too fancy with a steakhouse crowd. But Charlie Palmer's burger expertly walks the line between manly beef and haute cuisine. The 10-ounce disk is picture-perfect, served with a farm-fresh tomato, lettuce and balsamic onions and topped with a buttered, toasted poppy-seed bun that's made in-house each morning. On the side: five kinds of mustard, including lemon and tarragon. It tastes as good as it looks; the meat is flecked with parsley and chives, then grilled, and the oversize cone of herby fries, served with a lovely chipotle garlic aioli, is big enough for three greedy snackers to share. The only flaw? Our burger arrived slightly overdone.

VERY GOOD

Morton's